Contrary to statements made in the press, the Santa Barbara County Ad Hoc Subcommittee did not break off negotiations with representatives from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians at the meeting on March 3, 2016. Our goal, as we stated at the end of that meeting, was to formally update the full Board of Supervisors and the general public before scheduling any further meetings. That meeting at the board will be occurring on March 15 in Santa Barbara. It is factually incorrect to say that the county refuses to acknowledge the Tribe’s status as a sovereign government. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has long had an adopted policy that “recognizes and respects the tribal right of self-governance to provide for tribal members and to preserve traditional tribal culture and heritage.” That does not mean that we must agree to any particular proposal by the Tribe that we believe would be detrimental to the county and its residents.
Last fall, the full Board of Supervisors appointed us as an ad hoc subcommittee to hold open public meetings with both the chairman and the vice chairman of the Tribe. Our board gave us broad latitude to discuss whatever the Tribe wanted. Initially, we suggested that the talks include all land owned by the Tribe, except for the existing reservation. However, after the first meeting the Tribe chose to confine discussions to the 1,400 acre “Camp 4” property, and we complied, drafting a detailed term sheet to discuss and provide the basis for an agreement.
Unfortunately, after seven meetings, we have been unable to reach agreement on any of five main issues. Regarding the amount of property to be taken into trust, we proposed what the Tribe requested in their application to the federal government as to their stated need of property to provide housing and tribal facilities. We first offered about 200 acres and then later increased it to 900 acres, even though the Tribe had not moved from their position of wanting all 1,400 acres into Trust without providing additional information as to what the rest of the property would be used for. We provisionally agreed to the term length of their gaming compact with the state, with a reopener provision. Initially, the Tribe seemed to agree, but then came back at our last meeting with unclear language that would allow for the term to be shortened.